The Knighthouse Arc
by midnightstylus
Summary: (Emma Approved) Speculative description of how the story arc of Emma and Alex getting together might go in the Emma Approved web series, based on "Emma" by Jane Austen. Written around the airing of Episodes 59/60, this story is accurate to canon at least up until that point. These three episodes take place starting right after Annie tells Emma about Frank and Jane's secret romance.
1. Episode: Surprisingly Bad News

Today, Emma is wearing a plain charcoal-grey sweater. Her hair is pulled somewhat away from her face in a loose half-ponytail. She looks worried and is wringing her hands a bit desperately.

"Well," she begins awkwardly, "I've been trying to figure out how to break the news to Harriet about Frank and Jane." She looks distressed and shakes her head. "Ugh, I feel so awful! I'm going to have to break her heart..._again_...and it's because of me...AGAIN!" She screws up her face with guilt. "Oh, _why_ didn't I listen to Alex!" she moans, shaking her fists in frustration. "Him and his _stoopid_ #leaveharrietalone hashtag..."

Her kvetching is interrupted briefly by the theme song and opening title sequence.

Returning from this, she tempers her self-recrimination a bit, and engages in some self-defence. "Mind you...this time it wasn't _entirely_ my fault. Harriet was already interested in Frank before I even said anything!" She sticks her jaw out angrily as her anger finds a new target, pointing accusingly at the camera. "And Frank is to blame here, too!" She sighs, dropping her hand back into her lap. "But I should have kept my nose out of the whole thing. Oh, poor Harriet."

Her train of thought suddenly takes another turn, and her expression brightens. "But at least I know _Jane_ is okay!" she effuses, holding an arm out towards the camera for emphasis. "Now she can be with the man she loves, she doesn't have to worry about sneaking around all the time, or settling for a job she doesn't want...everything's going to be _wonderful_ for her." She beams, genuinely pleased at Jane's good fortune. "I wish her nothing but happiness," she declares, then looks a bit guilty. "I know I've been resentful lately about her attitude to me, but can you _blame_ her?!" Emma is all understanding and pity as she looks at things from Jane's point of view. "She thought I was stealing away the man she loved! My offers of help must have been _torture_ for her. I understand _everything_ now," she concludes magnanimously.

A beat later, though, her thoughts are back on Harriet. "...Everything _except_ how I'm going to tell Harriet about this." There's more handwringing, and she looks appealingly toward the camera. "I know it's supposed to be a secret, but I _owe_ Harriet the truth." She gives a wry laugh. "This must have been how Annie felt talking to _me_ a few days ago..." she muses.

Her ruminations are interrupted by the brisk sound of Harriet's pumps, tapping their way excitedly into Emma's office. "Oh Emma," Harriet enthuses as she enters, her notepad and phone clutched in her arms, "isn't this _incredible_ news?!" Her face is stretched wide into a characteristic Harriet grin.

Emma gives a little frown of confusion, and turns away from the camera at Harriet sits down next to her. "What do you mean?"

Harriet clarifies eagerly. "About Jane Fairfax. Isn't it crazy?!" Noticing Emma's stunned look, she adds reassuringly, "Oh, it's okay, you can talk about it with me...Ryan told me himself, he was here first thing this morning, dropping off all the thank you notes for the baby shower." She raises her shoulders gleefully and smiles even more broadly. "_And_ a box of gooseberry tarts from Annie." She shakes her head at the generosity of Emma's friend. "Ryan said it was a secret, but that _you_ already knew."

Emma looks even more confused. "_What_ did Ryan say?" she asks.

Harriet blinks brightly. "That Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill are together! That they've been in a secret relationship for months and _months_!"

Emma's jaw drops in surprise, and she peers hard at Harriet, who in turn continues to exhibit absolutely no signs of heartbreak. Rather the opposite, in fact; she's practically bouncing in her seat with glee. Since Emma is silent, Harriet bubbles on. "Did you have _any_ idea?" she asks. "I mean, you're always _sooo_ intuitive, you _must_ have-"

Emma interrupts. "I'm starting to wonder whether I have any intuition at _all_!" she exclaims. "I had no idea until Annie told me about it! Lord, Harriet, are you _seriously_ asking me whether I knew he was in love with _Jane_? When all this time I've been encouraging you to think of Frank for _yourself_?!"

"_ME_?!" cries Harriet, blushing instantly with embarrassment and looking completely dumbfounded. "Why would I think about him for _myself_?" She frowns with a sudden thought. "You don't think I _like_ him, do you?"

"Okay, _look_," says Emma firmly after a quick glance back to the camera. She tries desperately to get a handle on the conversation. "I'm really happy that you don't seem to be upset about all this, but you _told_ me, not long ago...in this _very_ room...that you were _interested_ in him!"

"_Mr. Churchill_?!" boggles Harriet. "No...never. Never! Emma, no, how could you have thought that's who I was talking about?!" In perplexity, she turns away from Emma so that her body is fully facing the camera. Her face, however, is looking down, obviously thinking very hard.

"Harriet!" cries Emma. "What do you mean? Holy _Oprah_, what do you mean?!"

At this, Harriet jumps up from the bench and paces around the room in consternation. Emma looks with utter horror back to the camera as the penny starts to drop. "Harriet...?" Her breath gets caught in her throat and she looks back at Harriet, who, in her distress, now has her materials in a tight death-grip.

She turns back to Emma, protesting earnestly. "I never thought for a _second_, Emma, that you didn't know who we were talking about! I know we said we wouldn't say his name, but...I mean...smart, successful, charming, handsome, funny, kind...who _else_ could we have been talking about? I mean," she tempers, wide-eyed, "Frank Churchill is nice and all, but...no!" she shakes her head laughingly. "There's no comparison!" She frowns, looking seriously at Emma. "I _never_ would have thought that he would think of me that way, but _you_ told me 'more wonderful things have happened,' so I started thinking that maybe it could be possible...well...I mean, _you've_ known him forever, so if _anyone_ would know about his feelings, it'd be _you_-"

Emma's voice rises even higher, to a frantic pitch. "Harriet!" she cries out, shooting yet another panicked look at the camera before getting it back together again. She looks down to collect herself, then sharply clears her throat and pats the seat beside her. "Harriet. Come and sit. We need to talk, and with _no_ miscommunication this time." A firm hand gesture reinforces her point.

Harriet bobs over to the bench and seats herself again by Emma.

Emma takes a very deep breath. "Harriet...are you talking about..._Alex_?"

Harriet blinks, raising her shoulders in her characteristic self-conscious way. "Of course! I admire him so much, there could never be anybody else." At Emma's stunned, frozen expression, Harriet qualifies further. "We _did_ talk about him," she adds in an uncertain voice.

Emma appears to be bending all her energy towards remaining calm. With great deliberateness, she relaxes her shoulders and looks directly at Harriet. "Uh, not _exactly_...Harriet, everything you said was about Frank! You practically _named_ him! For heaven's sake!" she bursts out, a nervous laugh escaping her, "we talked about when he saved you from the coyotes, after your car broke down!"

Harriet looks totally blank for a moment, then she laughs and shakes her head. "Oh, Emma, no...you've forgotten-"

Emma purses her lips and her tone gets a touch harsh. "Harriet, I remember it _very_ clearly. I told you it was very natural and romantic that rescuing you would have gotten your attention. And you _agreed_!" she emphasizes. "You even talked about how it _felt_ to be rescued!"

Harriet bites her lip. "Oh dear...okay, yes, I remember all that, of course...but I _wasn't_ talking about Frank Churchill."

Emma's look is disbelieving. "What?!" she squeals.

Harriet warms to her subject. "No, Emma, I...I was talking about something much more _personal_...I meant...when Alex offered to take me as his plus-one to the engagement party, after Senator Elton had told me I couldn't go." Here Emma's face starts to fall with awful realisation. Harriet looks to the side reminiscently. "I'd gotten all dressed up, and I was _sooo_ excited, and then Senator Elton treated me like-like...just the _help_." She winces at the memory. "_Unwanted_ help. It was humiliating!" Her expression brightens. "But then Alex swooped in, and arranged for me to go after all..and as his date, too...his _equal_! That was when I realised how amazing he is." She sighs fondly.

Emma has clearly become extremely distressed. "Oh my god," she says before she can stop herself. She swallows convulsively, and presses a hand to her middle, swiveling away from Harriet.

Harriet frowns, suddenly realising that something might be seriously amiss. "Emma," she begins tentatively, "does this mean you wouldn't have said anything if you knew who I really meant?" She frowns, and quirks her mouth to one side, thinking hard again. "But then...I guess I'm no worse off _now_ than if I _did_ like Mr. Churchill. I mean," she turns back to Emma, "at least with Alex, it's _possible_!" Another thoughtful pause, and her face falls. "Okay, so I guess you _don't_ actually think he would think of me that way, after all..."

Emma's face, still turned away from Harriet, is speaking volumes. Harriet's words appear to be causing her actual physical pain. Oblivious to this, Harriet's monologue continues, now more optimistically. "But Emma, you said it yourself, _more_ wonderful things had happened...I mean, that's true even if you _didn't_ know who I was talking about, so...so if Alex _does_ think of me that way, then...it could still happen!" She finishes triumphantly, then wilts a little, looking at the back of Emma's head. "You-you'll be _happy_ for us, Emma...right?"

At this, Emma practically leaps out of her seat and begins pacing the room herself, while Harriet looks on uncertainly, biting her lip. After a few moments, Emma stops and looks penetratingly at Harriet. "_DO_ you think he thinks of you that way?" she asks incredulously.

Harriet's expression becomes very bashful and she looks shyly down at her hands. "Well..._yes_," she confesses softly.

Instantly, Emma's nostrils flare, and her hands open wide with tension. She swallows hard, and whirls to face the door, her face hidden from both Harriet and the camera. A moment later, she practically jumps as Harriet's phone fleedles cheerfully with a call. Harriet peeks at the device and makes a moue of regret, wrinkling up her nose. "Oh, Emma," she says, "sorry, I _have_ to take this...it's Boxx...they're expecting an important receipt this morning. Can we talk later?"

Emma nods and answers in a low voice, "Sure."

Harriet is already answering the phone as she walks out of Emma's office, her voice fading out as she turns the corner and walks out of sight. "Emma Approved, Harriet speaking..."

The next minute or so shows Emma pacing her office in extreme agitation, holding herself protectively around her middle, pressing her lips together, occasionally looking imploringly up at the ceiling, holding her temples, and even wiping away a few tears; and always, always, with a tortured expression on her face.

Finally, we cut to a view of Emma seated once again, now with the door firmly shut behind her. A few tearmarks stain her face, and she swallows and sniffles as she talks, but she has regained a modicum of self-control. Her voice shakes as she looks directly at the camera and tells the audience. "I've failed."

She closes her eyes for a moment, shaking her head while a few more tears escape down her cheeks. But she pulls herself back together and fixes the camera with a direct look once again. Still shaking her head, she confesses, "I've failed Harriet, and I've failed _myself_." After a small, appealing glance towards the ceiling, she continues. "_HOW_ could I not have realised it before?" She looks back at the camera and explains herself. "Why am I fine with Harriet getting together with Frank, but feel like _this_ at the idea of her getting together with _Alex_?"

She trembles slightly as she answers her own question with deep bitterness: "_I_ want to be with Alex! I-I love him...I-I think I've always loved him."

At this, she falls apart a bit again, blinking furiously and looking away with a grieving expression.

A cut, and she's found herself a tissue and is dabbing at her eyes. "It's so _obvious_!" she cries. "This whole time, I haven't been _helping_ Harriet, I've been _horrible_ to her! Pushing her to like all these different guys! Guys that are _completely_ wrong for her...never _once_ did I think about her personality; all I cared about was making her _ambitious_! And it's just been one disaster after another! I have _never_ actually helped her, not once! And now-" she cuts herself off, pausing to sniffle again, her eyes focused off in one corner. "She thinks Alex wants her...just when I realise _I_ want _him_!" Swallowing, she looks back at the camera, and shakes her head again, self-loathing etched all over her face. "Harriet deserves better than this," she resolves. "I _must_ be nice to her. Anything else would be _completely _unfair." Her eyes widen sorrowfully. "I'll just have to hide how I feel, that's all." She inhales deeply through her nose and speaks resolutely. "I must be calm; I must be nice...and _I must find out what's been happening with her and Alex_." She gives one last sniff, one last dab at her eyes, puts away the tissue, straightens gamely, and leans forward to dial Harriet.

After a few bleeps, Harriet's nervous face appears on an inset screen. "Yes, Emma?" she asks timidly.

Emma's voice, amazingly, is gentle and serene; perhaps a bit too suave, but Harriet appears to notice nothing out of the ordinary. "Harriet," she opens, "you said earlier that you thought Alex has feelings for you...?"

Harriet smiles tremulously and she nods. "Oh, yes," she agrees.

Emma's eyes get ever-so-slightly wider, but aside from another calming inhale and tilt of her head, nothing else betrays her inner turmoil as she presses on. "And what makes you think that, exactly?" she asks delicately.

An excited litany of reasons tumbles quickly from Harriet's lips. "Well, you said that I should look for the signals, right? And I've been thinking that he's been _giving_ me signals for a really long time now. Um...he's told me lots of nice stuff about myself; he's complimented my work, he's told me I was really important to the company...ummm...he always seems to be there to pick me up when I'm feeling down.."

Emma blinks, her eyes losing focus with the camera introspectively. "Yes...he often tells me how great you are," she muses thoughtfully.

"And then," Harriet presses on, "I was his date to the engagement party," here she glows fondly at the memory while Emma's expression hardens slightly, "...and ever since then, I've just noticed that he seems to take more interest in me! And he's been trying to spend time alone with me, just like you said! He offered to carpool with me, and...and he spent a lot of time with me at the Boxx opening..."

Emma frowns, thinking. "That's true," she admits softly. "He did."

Harriet continues, "And he's been talking to me a lot more than he used to, asking about my...you know, my feelings and stuff, and how I'm doing, and even if I'm _dating_ anybody!"

At this, Emma rocks back in her seat, looking fairly stunned. After a moment, she twitches with a sudden thought and grasps at a straw. "Are you sure he wasn't...I mean, he _does_ hang out sometimes with...with B-Mart, they have 'guys nights' together, playing poker and stuff. Maybe he was actually asking on behalf of-"

Harriet rolls her eyes expressively and cuts Emma off. "_Martin_!" she exclaims quite loudly. "Oh, _no_, Emma, we weren't talking about _Martin_. I know better than to care about _Martin_, I don't think anyone would even _think_ I like _Martin_! No, no, no..."

Emma sighs slightly, and she nods. "Okay, I-I guess Alex was asking for himself, then."

Harriet brightens. "And my rides with him have been _sooo_ fun," she adds.

Emma's face takes on a defeated look of realisation. "So...I guess your carpool hasn't been 'all work and no play'?" she asks, stressing the last phrase meaningfully to herself.

Harriet beams, nodding enthusiastically. "He's always so attentive...he's always just so...sweet, and...kind!" she confirms.

Emma swallows, but remains silent, thinking.

Harriet raises her eyebrows appealingly, her voice serious. "Emma, _you_ said, 'Let his behaviour guide yours,' and...and that's what I did. And now I feel," here she shrugs expansively, gathering her thoughts, "like-like it's not so crazy after all that he would like me...you know?"

Emma doesn't seem to know how to answer that. Her face is tense with an aura of sadness which Harriet doesn't seem to notice. Finally, though, she replies, obviously choosing her words very carefully as she goes. "Harriet, the only thing I can say is that...that...Alex is not the sort of guy who would ever try to give a woman the wrong idea."

A delightedly vorklempt expression suffuses Harriet's face, and she bubbles forth with happiness. "Oh Emma, thank you _sooo_ much! Oh, I'm so glad...this is so amazing...and unbelievable! I can't even-"

Emma's nostrils flare and she cuts Harriet off, having reached her limit of endurance. "I'm sorry Harriet, I think I have another call, I'll talk to you later!" she blurts out quickly.

Harriet's quick, enthusiastic 'Okay!' is cut off before she can finish the word, her inset disappearing from view.

Emma's shoulders sag the moment the call ends. Now that no one is watching, she lets herself go, allowing her wretchedness to show on her face, shaking her head disbelievingly. Finally, she can stand it all no longer and gives vent to everything; balling her hands into fists and shaking them quickly in front of her, she screws up her face and cries out, "Oh, I _wish_ I had never hired her!"


	2. Episode: The Truth Hurts

A somewhat disheveled Emma appears in front of the camera today - casual shirt, minimal makeup, no earrings, and a bit of a lopsided ponytail. The state of the office behind her has also fallen apart, with binders out and open on various surfaces, as if Emma's been moving stuff all around. When she speaks, it's with a very changed demeanour: she's now completely humbled; regret infuses her entire countenance and the tone of every word she speaks.

"Hello," she opens without any particular enthusiasm. There's an awkward silence, and then, somewhat surprisingly, the video cuts right into the opening title sequence and theme song.

When we return, Emma clasps her fingers together above her lap, trying to figure out what to say next. "Well..." Her eyes go back to the camera, and she sighs. "Things...haven't been good." She casts her eyes to the side and bobs her head slowly. "I've been doing a _lot_ of thinking." Another sigh, and she starts shaking her head despairingly instead. "I'm so disappointed in myself. In _everything_. Everything I've been doing, everything I've been saying, everything I've been _feeling_..."

She fixes the camera with a direct, honest look. "Most of all...what I've been feeling." She bites her lip for a half-moment before continuing. "I've been thinking a lot about...about Alex." With a bitter laugh and a look ceiling-ward, she exclaims, "Self-deception much, Emma?!" Her gaze falls down to her hands as she works things out while speaking. "I've denied for so long that I cared about him...that way...but after all that, it turns out that I _do_!" She looks back up and appeals to the camera softly and sincerely, "I so, _so_ do!" Raising her eyebrows, she admits, "I can't even tell how long I've felt this way. When I think about how I feel about him, compared to, say, how I thought I might have been feeling for Frank..." She gives another bitter laugh. "It's been Alex...only Alex...forever!" Another sigh. "I've _always_ wanted Alex's good opinion more than anybody's."

She swallows and becomes self-recriminating. "But by now, I'm sure I don't _have_ it," she admits viciously. "Alex has watched me this whole time, seen all the horrible things I've been doing: the schemes, the gossiping, the prying, the...the jumping to the wrong conclusions...being terrible to people I care about...all the _manipulating_..." Her severe distress and embarrassment is evident. "And all for no reason! I've been wrong about _everything_." She rattles off a list of intuition failures. "Who Senator Elton liked, who Jane liked, who Frank liked, and...and...who Harriet likes."

Her face falls. "That's the worst of all. I know this is going to sound selfish and catty, but I know in my heart it's true: Alex and Harriet are just _not_ well-suited together!" She points at the camera. "He may have feelings for her, but _I_ know Alex Knightley, and that relationship will just make him _miserable_!" She winces as she thinks about it. "Harriet's shy and self-conscious...he'll be spending all his time propping her up, reassuring her. boosting her confidence...and eventually, he's going to find that very tiresome in a partner!" She purses her mouth disapprovingly. "Alex is strong, and he needs to be an equal in a relationship, not a caregiver. He just won't be happy!" Her voice trails off quietly, "I don't know if I can stand watching him become unhappy..."

Horrified at the mess she's made of things, she brings her hands up to hold her face. "And it's all my fault!" she cries, wallowing in self-pity. "I kept telling Harriet to be ambitious, to go for men in the spotlight, men who make things happen...and that's not who Harriet _is_! She's...she's more of a...a...'behind the scenes' sort of person," she concludes finally. "She's _not_ ambitious, she _doesn't_ want to be in the spotlight. She is wonderful, and kind, but delicate, and nervous, and quiet, and..." Her hands drop back down to her lap with hopelessness. "I never should have chased B-Mart away from her," she finishes in a small voice.

Her thoughts then take a new track, one which is apparently so painful that she shuts her eyes as she speaks. "What am I going to do if she gets together with Alex?" she agonizes. "He's my best friend...and I'm his! How...how is it going to work when I'm..." she chokes up, barely getting out the rest of her sentence. "...when I'm no longer first in his life?"

Sniffling, she reaches offscreen for something and produces a tissue, which she uses to dab at her eyes. "Not that I understand why I even _have_ been first in his life," she castigates herself, "given how much I push him around all the time...how much I take him for granted!" She sniffles a bit. "At this point, he's probably just sticking around out of habit." Suddenly she looks up, eyes wide with a sudden thought. "No..." she says slowly, "he must be sticking around...for _Harriet_..."

This produces a fresh wave of tissue-dabbing and sniffling. Finally, she seems to have had enough of wallowing. She picks up her posture, shakes her head back defiantly, puts the tissue away, and declares, "I'm just going to have to watch them together once he gets back from Izzy and John's. Then I'll know for sure."

Suddenly, footsteps can be heard outside Emma's office, and a moment later, Annie appears in the doorway. "Hey, you!" she greets her friend cheerily.

Annie's eyes then fall on all the open binders, and she looks surprised, but before she can say anything, Emma puts on a chipper face and spins around to give greetings in return. "Annie!" she cries, holding out her arms in welcome. "Come in! Sit down!"

Annie wrinkles her nose fondly at her friend, settling into her seat and turning to face Emma. "How are you?" she asks cautiously, taking in Emma's altered appearance.

Emma blinks a few times, and smiles very widely, with innocently raised eyebrows. "How are _you_, 'mama'?" she returns loudly as her reply.

Effectively distracted by this, Annie looks down and pats the beginnings of a tummy bulge happily. "Very well, thank you!" she returns. She then lets out a breath and takes Emma's hands. "So," she says excitedly, "I spent some time yesterday with Jane and the Bateses."

Emma's eyebrows go sky-high in appreciation. "Wow!" she says. "How did _that_ go?"

Annie beams. "It went very well!" she proclaims. "I mean," she says, wiggling her head back and forth in a tempering gesture, her ponytail bobbing with the motion, "I was a bit nervous at first, I didn't know how everyone was taking the news, or how happy they would be to see _me_, since I'm Frank's sister-in-law." Emma gives her a commiserating expression, and she continues her story. "But everybody was just so happy for Jane that we all got along _great!"_

A genuine smile appears on Emma's face. "Oh, that's so fabulous!" she enthuses.

Annie nods. "Mm hm! And then I persuaded Jane to come out to lunch with me." Emma's eyes widen with interest. Annie sighs compassionately. "Oh Emma, she's been so miserable. This whole time!" Emma punctuates Annie's narrative with various sympathetic noises. "She's feeling _so_ guilty about how she had to deceive everybody, and _that_ made her miserable, and then she thought Frank didn't love her anymore, and _that_ made her even _more_ miserable...ugh." Annie shakes her head. "The poor thing thinks all that was some kind of...karmic retribution, _punishing_ her for lying to everyone!"

Emma shakes her head. "Oh, _no_," she says disapprovingly. "Did you tell her to stop being so hard on herself?"

Annie shrugs. "I sure tried," she assures Emma.

Emma sighs. "I'm sure some of the things _I_ did helped to make her so miserable. I feel so bad," she says sincerely, her cheerful demeanour starting to slip back into sadness.

Annie squeezes her friend's arm. "But you didn't _mean_ to hurt her! And Jane knows that, really she does." Annie tilts her head thoughtfully. "One thing Jane did say was how all the stress of the secrecy made her so impatient with everyone. She's got a lot of guilt going on about that. She feels she's been treating people badly. She said she wasn't 'an understanding enough partner' about where Frank was coming from; she was snippy with her family sometimes; and..." here Annie looks directly at Emma, "she feels really bad for rejecting all the help you tried to offer. She _particularly_ wanted me to thank you for everything you tried to do for her."

Emma bats a hand at Annie dismissively and smiles weakly at the camera. "Oh, that's not necessary."

Annie shrugs. "Well, she made me promise to tell you!" she chirrups. "I'm sure she'll thank you in person very soon." The two women exchange satisfied smiles, although Emma's seems somewhat preoccupied. Annie misses this, though, as she looks thoughtful. "Honestly Emma, I don't think she _ever_ would have agreed to a secret romance if she didn't love him so much. She _really_ cares about him. I'm so happy for them!"

Emma looks pleased. "I wish her all the happiness in the world," she declares gratefully. She then adds sardonically, with a much less pleased expression, "But I do think Frank is _far_ luckier than he deserves to be."

Annie raises her eyebrows and the pitch of her voice. "Oh, now," she admonishes maternally, "don't be too hard on Frank, he's had a rough time, too."

"Really," says Emma, her voice loaded with skepticism.

"_Yes_," emphasizes Annie. "I got a text from him this morning; he sent his love, and promised a _full_ explanation of the whole story, from start to finish...as soon as he can get the time to write it out in an email. I'm sure it will explain a lot that we don't know about."

Emma raises her eyebrows; she doesn't look convinced, but at least she seems willing to listen to reason. "Alright," she concedes absently.

Annie smiles again, and then there's a silence. As it stretches on, she looks about the office, and gives a small frown. "Emma, are you alright? You seem-"

Emma interrupts with a loudly enthusiastic voice. "I'm great!" she insists. As Annie opens her mouth to speak again, she adds quickly, "Are you hungry? You must be hungry. You're eating for two now! Do you want to get some lunch?"

Annie smiles fondly at Emma, then nods, capitulating. "Sure," she agrees affably. The camera stops filming as they stand up to leave the office.


	3. Episode: Friends

Emma doesn't seem as down today as she has recently, but she's not looking particularly upbeat, either. Her outfit matches this feeling; it's pretty, but very subdued, all greys and dull blues; not even a hint of Emma's usual sparkle-and-flash.

She grips her hands together as she brings the viewers up to speed. "Well, things haven't been too exciting around here lately," she admits. "My father's had a cold this week, so that's been keeping me busy." She sighs. "I haven't seen Annie for a few days; she and Ryan have been busy planning their nursery." Another sigh. "Although Annie did text me last night that Jane and Frank have decided to move to London." She looks underwhelmed. "That makes sense, I guess," she admits. "Jane's already established there, and it puts Frank closer to a lot of his investors." She thins her mouth ruefully, looking off to the side. "But it will make things duller around here without them." Tilting her head reflectively, she looks back at the camera. "Of course, things are already pretty dull around here now." She pauses, then gives one last, morose sigh. "Alex is still out of town."

There's another moment's pause, and then, astonishingly, Alex Knightley himself rounds the corner into her office, hands - as always - planted in his pockets. "Are you sure about that?" he asks.

Still staring at the camera, Emma's eyes get absolutely huge.

Cue opening title and music.

The moment the camera shows the office again, Emma whips around to stare at the man behind her. "Alex!" she exclaims. "You're...here!"

He saunters in with a small smile, heading for the seat beside Emma. "Yup," he affirms. "Just got in now." He peers at her as if he wants to say something serious, but then seems to think better of it. Instead, he points a thumb behind him and directs his gaze backwards towards the door. "Uh...where's Harriet? She doesn't seem to be in today."

Emma gives the camera a meaningful, worried stare. "You...went to _Harriet_'s office first?"

"Mm-hm, it's on the way to yours," he replies absently, turning back around to look at her. "Is she sick?"

Emma forces out a laugh. "You seem awfully interested in how she's doing," she observes, a bit shakily.

He looks confused at this reaction. "I'm...just wondering where she is..." he comments, a bit defensively.

Emma turns away briskly from the camera and faces Alex. "Well, as it happens," she informs him, a bit tartly, "she took the day off. Things are a little slow around here this week, and she wanted to do a little local meetup of her music club."

Alex raises his eyebrows and nods approvingly, giving a bit of a smile towards the camera. "Oh, right, her online club. That's going well, isn't it? Good for Harriet!"

Emma swallows and gives the camera another worried, knowing look before turning back to Alex and firmly ending this line of questioning. "_Anyway_," she tells him, Harriet's not here. _But_," she continues, changing the subject altogether, "Now that _you're_ here, I have some very interesting news to tell you! Big news! Huge!" she exclaims, warming to her subject.

Alex looks wary. "What kind of news?" he asks.

"Only the _best_ kind!" Emma enthuses, determined to perk up. "A _love match_," she says, looking triumphantly at the camera, and almost winking, but not quite.

Alex frowns. "Emma...do you mean Jane and Frank Churchill? Because...I know about that already."

Emma's shoulders slump, deflated, and she whirls round to glare at Alex. "_What_?!" she squeaks, holding her hands out dramatically. "Why does everyone _know_ about this already?" She points an accusatory finger at him. "Who told you?" she demands.

Alex chuckles mildly at her ferocious expression. "Annie sent me an email last night. But," he adds hastily, "I didn't read it until this morning." He hesitates, then admits, "I got on the first flight I could to get back here." He gently takes first her pointing index finger, and then her whole hand, into his own, and looks very seriously into her eyes. "Emma," he begins in a gentle, comforting tone, "it's okay. You don't have to put on a show. I know you must be hurting, but it's going to be alright." He looks away, frowning with anger. "What a _jerk_. Jane deserves better," he declares, then looks back and squeezes her hand sympathetically. "But he'll be gone soon; Annie said they're going to live in London. It won't seem so bad...in time."

Emma looks touched, and gives him a lovely smile. "Oh no, Alex," she says, joining her other hand to their clasped ones and shaking them all reassuringly. "I'm fine!" At his instantly skeptical expression, she clarifies. "I-I know what it looked like, but my feelings for Frank are just platonic." She nods to emphasize the point.

Alex looks very surprised. "What?" he asks.

Emma looks abashed. "Other than being embarrassed about flirting with him so much," she admits, "I don't really have any reason to wish I'd been in on the secret."

"Really?" Alex asked, looking at her closely. "Because I thought...I didn't know how _much_ you felt, but I mean," here he laughs, "it was pretty obvious that you two had _something_ going on." She bites her lip and looks down into her lap as he starts shaking his head. "Not that he _deserved_ it," he mutters angrily, starting to get riled up. "He's _such_ a weasel," he exclaims viciously. "And he gets to be with someone as great as _Jane_?! I just don't get it!"

Emma holds up her hands to try and stem his tirade. "Alex, no, wait, stop," she says. "I don't want you to misunderstand. Please believe me, I've known for a long time now that I only like him as a friend; that I only _ever_ liked him as a friend."

Alex frowns. "You mean...you never..._liked_, liked him?"

Emma shakes her head. "No," she assures him. She bites her lip again. "I'm not proud of how I behaved when I was around him," she confesses. "But...I was flattered by how much attention he gave me, and he was a lot of fun, so...I gave as good as I got." She laughs ruefully. "Of course, it turns out that _he_ was just trying to make sure no one would think he was actually with Jane." She shrugs. "But luckily, I was already...I mean," she hastily corrects herself, with a quick widening of her eyes, "I, uh...I never felt that way about him."

Alex looks floored, but also very relieved. He exhales with surprise, shaking his head. "Well, I just hope he'll treat her right from now on," he comments.

Emma smiles. "Oh, I think he will," she assures him. "I think they're truly in love."

As he considers this, Alex's head-shaking becomes sharper and more emphatic, and his expression gets harder; his jaw begins to clench. He turns back to Emma, who leans back a bit in surprise at the anger he's showing. "_Man_!" he vents, "that guy really frosts my-" He stops himself just short of an indelicacy and purses his lips together with frustration instead. When he speaks again, it's in a voice dripping with sarcasm. "Frank Churchill has got to be the luckiest guy in the world, y'know that? He meets an amazing woman, falls in love with her...and she falls in love with him right back. He has a major investor who would pull out if he was involved with a human rights activist; the investor _dies_." He continues ranting, now grimacing with disgust. "He treats his girlfriend like garbage, he takes advantage of his family and friends...and everybody's just lining up to forgive him!" He breathes hard with emotion as he finishes, glaring as he never has before. "It's just not right, Emma," he says with bitter conviction.

After a quick glance over to the camera for reassurance, Emma laughs nervously, before hesitantly attempting some teasing humour, "It sounds like you're a bit jealous there, Mr. Knightley."

Alex winces angrily, and looks like he's about to make a swift denial, but then he checks himself, his expression becoming thoughtful. He lifts his chin a bit before looking Emma straight in the eyes and confessing, "Actually...yes, I do, in a way." His gaze becomes more piercing, and his voice more serious; low, gentle and intense. "He does have one thing in his life that I wish I did."

Emma immediately looks frightened; she turns away, looking off to the side, thinking fast. Alex watches her, leaning forward a little bit to try and catch the expression on her face. He gives a short little laugh and shakes his head in disbelief. "What, no curiosity at all?" he asks, addressing the camera. He looks back towards Emma, and tries teasing her. "Who are you, and what have you done with Emma Woodhouse?" When all she does in reply is to give a throwaway token laugh and turn her head farther away, he looks even more taken aback. Blinking and frowning, he looks down, gathering his thoughts, looking over quickly once more at her profile. Suddenly, all the fight seems to go out of him, and his face takes a on a desperate expression. "Fine, then," he says, almost recklessly. "I know I'm going to regret this, but-"

Still turned away from him, Emma's eyes get wider, just as Alex takes her by the shoulder to turn her around to face him. He takes a deep breath. "Emma, there's something I need to tell you...something that's been building for a while...and I _can't_ stand hiding it from you anymore-"

Upon hearing this, Emma's face reflects full-on panic. She shakes her head violently and cries out, "Why not?!" Alex takes a sharp breath inwards and leans away from her, staring like a deer in the headlights as she continues frantically, "You must have had a good reason to _start_ hiding it! Why tell me now?! Don't say anything you're going to regret!"

They stare at each other, frozen for a moment, Emma's frenzied breathing the only sound filling the room.

Alex breaks the tableau, swallowing convulsively and looking down at his hands with a completely defeated and embarrassed expression. He swallows again, and manages to blurt out, "Okay...sure...right. Thanks..." before getting up and hightailing it out of Emma's office.

Once he's gone, Emma claps her hands to her mouth and looks back at the camera with a tortured expression. "Oh, what have I done?!" she asks wildly. She closes her eyes and clenches her hands at the side of her face, thinking hard. After a moment, her eyes fly open. She casts her eyes to one side, inhaling sharply through her nose, steeling herself, shaking her head. "No. Alex is my _friend_ first." Her eyelids lower. "It doesn't matter if he tells me about Harriet...I _will_ be there for him. Because he _always_ is for me!" She opens her eyes and stares off into the distance for a few seconds, gathering courage. Finally, with a deep breath, she rises from her seat and marches towards the door.

The scene cuts to Alex in his office; but he's not working. He's leaning back in his chair and staring ahead with dead eyes. At the sound of a rustle behind him, however, he sits forward alertly in his chair, his fingers flying guiltily to his keyboard as he suddenly pretends to work. Half a second later, Emma's frame can be seen coming up hesitantly behind him.

"Alex?" she asks timidly.

"Yeah?" Alex asks in an overly-chipper manner, getting in some fake mouse action for good measure.

"Um," she begins, "I'm really sorry, I-I interrupted you just now from saying something...something obviously very important to you." Alex's head doesn't move, but his eyes look sideways as she speaks, as if he can't quite credit what he's hearing. "I'm so sorry if I hurt you," she offers. "I'm your friend, and-and I want to listen to what you have to say." She gestures appealingly towards the spare chair beside him. "Can I sit down?"

Alex frowns at this unexpected show of courtesy, and swivels around, looking up at her. "Okay..." he says, with not a little confusion.

Emma takes the chair, and tucks it in a little closer so she's at a good speaking distance from Alex. She clasps her hands together and speaks calmly and resolutely. "Okay. You were-you were trying to tell me, as a friend, about...something that's been on your mind for a while." She gestures towards him before continuing. "So I just want to let you know that I am here for you, and...I will be honest with you." She gives a quick glance to the camera before looking back at Alex. "As a friend," she adds.

Alex presses his lips together and angles his head resentfully. "As a friend?" he repeats. He gives a self-mocking smile. "Right. Of course! Friends. _Great_." He winces, then looks away. "Oh _gawd_," he muses to himself, "I've become one of _those_ guys." He spreads his hands wide, as if not sure what to do with them. He looks over at Emma, who appears quite at sea about what's going on, then he shakes his head. "No," he says to himself firmly. Looking away, he then contradicts this decision. "Yes," he declares stoutly. Blowing out a frustrated breath of air, he's so agitated that he mutters his thought process out loud. "What the hell. Like I could be any _less_ obvious at this point..."

Turning back to Emma, Alex takes her hands in his and looks at them before raising his eyes to hers and asking shakily. "Emma, please be honest...do I have _any_ kind of shot here?"

Silence greets his question. She stares blankly at him.

He continues. "I'm so sorry, I don't want to be some kind of jerk who whines about being in the 'friendzone'. I-I'd like to think this is different." His stare becomes intense and sincere. "Emma, I _love_ our friendship...it's the best thing in my whole life. I care about you so much. I _never_ want to lose you." Here his nerve seems to desert him a bit, but he swallows and forges on. "So...so if you say no, if you tell me you could never feel that way about me, then...I won't say anything else about this again, ever. I promise."

Emma's mouth opens in amazement.

Alex looks at her intently, tension in every bone of his body.

The silence stretches on.

He tilts his head to look at her. "You're...not...saying no," he observes tentatively.

She shakes her head mutely in response.

He stiffens, leaning back fearfully. "You _are _saying no?" he asks.

Her head shaking becomes extremely vigorous.

He looks relieved, but frowns a bit, leaning forward again cautiously. "So, you're...you're saying that you..._aren't_...saying no?" he clarifies.

She nods rapidly, still unable to speak.

Alex looks like he can hardly believe his luck, and lets out an incredulous laugh. He looks down briefly at their hands again and starts absently stroking hers. "Emma, I-oh...wow..." His shoulders relax and he gives her a look of heartaching tenderness. Then he gives a self-deprecating laugh. "Look...you know me, I can never talk about this stuff. I can't...recite poetry, or...or whatever it is that a guy's supposed to do..." He looks her full in the face. "I'd probably be better at talking about it if I didn't love you so damn much," he confesses.

Emma's eyes go wide, and begin to glisten, the warmth of pure happiness spreading gradually over her features. Alex doesn't see this, however, as he's dropped his head again, abashed after having spilled something so huge. "I'm an idiot, I know," he mumbles ruefully, his tone becoming bitter. "I'm 'Snarky Knightley'! I criticize you all the time, I nag you about budgets, I'm always pessimistic about your ideas-" He shakes his head. "I don't know how you stand me." He laughs at himself again. But out of his line of sight, Emma shakes her head in adamant denial, all the while beaming from ear to ear, still vorklempt.

Alex sighs. "I haven't exactly been 'Mr. Romance'," he says sarcastically. Looking back at Emma, he seems heartened by her broad smile, and manages a faint one in return. "But _you_ know what I mean. You know me better than anybody." He places his hands over hers again. "Do you think maybe...there might be _any_ kind of spark there for you?" He blushes as her smiling silence continues unbroken. "_Emma_," he begs, "_say_ something!"

Emma sighs happily. "Alex," she breathes.

He looks bewildered. "Emma?" he asks uncertainly.

She reaches out to grab the front of his shirt and pull him closer. "Alex," she says more forcefully, looking at him from under raised eyebrows.

Alex catches her meaning immediately, and begins breathing quickly, stealing little glances at her lips as the space between the two of them starts to shrink. "Emma..." he utters shakily, swallowing hard.

Once he's close enough, she snakes her hand around to the back of his neck, and closes her eyes. "Alex," she breathes against his mouth.

"Oh god, _Emma-_-" is all he can manage thickly, before putting his own hand at the back of her neck and pulling her against him into a deep, serious kiss.

Their lips move together passionately but slowly, savouring every moment. Alex's free hand comes up to caress the side of her face and neck; hers moves around his side and slides up his back, unconsciously clenching and unclenching little fistfuls of his shirt fabric as their breathing gets louder.

After many exquisite moments of this, the rhythm of the kiss naturally slows. Alex gives a trembling exhale as he gently pulls his mouth from hers. Eyes still closed, he moves his head up to press his lips lovingly, disbelievingly, to her forehead. Faced with Alex's exposed neck, Emma runs a few kisses along his throat. His eyes open wide in reaction, and his voice is husky with feeling as he breathes her name.

"Alex," she whispers in return, pulling back to look at him. Their eyes rove each other's faces tenderly, basking in the moment. "I love you," she tells him softly, and smiles as his face takes on an expression of agonized happiness in response.

Overcome, he strokes her cheek. His answering "I love you, too," is almost too quiet to be heard, but she catches it. With another radiant smile, she leans forward to kiss him gently on the lips, then moves to one side, planting kisses slowly down his jawline. He turns his head to allow her better access, sighing as she reaches his earlobe and starts nibbling. He lets out a breathless laugh. "Uh...Emma? Shouldn't we take this somewhere more private?"

"Hmmm?" Emma asks lazily, emerging from behind his neck. After a moment, she seems to process his question, and looks right at the camera, holding a hand out toward it. "You want me to turn it off?" she asks.

"No, I meant maybe we could-" He suddenly straightens right up and interrupts himself. "_What_?! Emma," he snaps, his gaze whipping to the camera, "is that thing _on_?!"

She stifles a laugh. "Uh, _yeah_," she tells him, an unspoken '_duh_' clearly audible in her tone. He gasps with outrage, but she places a hand on his chest, cutting him off before he can get really fired up. "Don't worry! I'll turn it off!" she assures him, whipping out her phone and flipping to the right app. He makes a few strangled noises, but starts to relax as she murmurs, "Let's see...cameraaas...Alex's offfice...ah! Here we are!" Her eyes sneak over to him teasingly. "_Prude_," she accuses, with a saucy wink.

His eyebrows shoot right up, and his eyes twinkle with naughty amusement. "Oh, you're going to be changing your mind about that," he promises quietly.

She blushes instantly, eyes going very wide...then wastes no time looking back down at her phone and, with a delighted smile, tapping it once more as fast as her finger can fly.

The camera winks out.

_Fin._


End file.
